Ice slinger



T. J. DAVIS ICE SLINGER April 19, 1938.

3 sneetssheet 1 Filed Dec. 1'7, 1935 NN" llllllllllll'll I WMI/maf JApril 19, 193s. 11n/wxs 2,114,557

` ICE SLINGER v Filed Dec. 17, 1935 4 s sheetss'heet 2 T. J. lDIM/ESApril 19, 1938.

ICE SLINGER Filed Dec. 17, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Apr. 19, 1938ICE SLINGER Thomas J. Davis, Hinsdale, Ill., assignor to Link- BeltCompany, a corporation of Illinois Application December rz, 1.935,serial No. 54,884

6 Claims.

This invention relates to newand useful improvements in ice slingers.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a single unit iceslinger adapted for crushing large lumps or cakes of ice to form smallice cubes, fine ice particles or vsnow ice which is directly droppedinto a mechanical conveyor that positively feeds the crushed ice to animpeller which in turn forces or throws it through a flexible tube',orthe like, for spraying the ice over the material to be iced.Obviously, the assembling of mechanism for crushing ice, positivelyconveying it and delivering the ice to the point of use in a single unithas the decided advantage of causing the mechanism to occupy a minimumamount of space and permitting the weight to be reduced to a minimumwith the result that the unit may be made portable as well asstationary. 'A further important object of the invention is to provide asingle unit of the above men tioned type which has the driven members ofits mechanism so arranged relative to each other that a single primemover may be employed for driving the same with a minimum oftransmission equipment and loss of power.

A still further important `object is to provide a screw form of conveyorfor feeding the ice from the crusher to the impeller.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent as thedescription proceeds.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification and inwhich like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout thesame,

Figure 1 is a side elevational ,view of the single unit ice slingerembodying this invention,

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view of the mechanism disclosed in Fig.1,

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view of the mechanism embodying thisinvention and taken at right angles to the sectional view disclosed inFig. 2, l

Figure 4 is a side elevational view viewed from the opposite side tothat disclosed in Fig. 1,

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the mechanism disclosed in the precedingflgures,-

Figure 6 ls a modified form of screw conveyor and impeller mechanismmbodying this invention, and

Figure 'l is a transverse nal view of the mechanism disclosed in Fig..6.

In the drawings, wherein for the purpose of illustration are shown thepreferred embodiments of this invention, and particularly referring to(c1. ss-ss) Figs. 2 and 3, the main housing of the ice slinger unitincludes a pair of parallel, substantially rectangularly shaped sideplates I II and II. These plates are held in ilxed relation to eachother by an end plate I2 which is connected in any suitable manner atits vertical edges to the side plates. A relatively small section I3 ofa bottom wall also is xed and is connected at its ends to the vertical'side walls II) and II for assisting in bracing and spacing these latterwalls.

The main housing further includes a breaker plate I4 which is pivoted atits upper edge to 1a transversely extending shaft I5 which in turn iscarried by brackets I6 on the side plates I0 and VI I. Figs. 2 and 3best illustrate this manner of mounting the breaker plate I4. It will beappreciated by inspecting Fig. 3 that the plate I4 is arranged inopposition to the xed wall I2 for completing the upper portion of thehous- Figs. 2 and 3 disclose the lower edge portion of the breaker plateI6 as having `pivotally connected thereto a forked member I1 whichterminates in a stem I8 intended to pass through an aperture I9 formedin the lower portion of the end wall I2. A stop collar 20 is fitted onthe stem I9 to limit pivotal movement of the breaker plate I4 in onedirection. outwardly o f the collar 2 0, the stem Iis threaded at 2l andadjustably passes through an aperture in the outer wall of a box-likeformation 22 carried by the wall I2. A nut 23 is threaded on the portion2| of the stem I8. 'Ihis nut has keyed thereto an adjusting wheel 24. Byinspecting this mechanism in connection 'with Fig.

, 3, it will be appreciated that the breaker plate I4 maybe adjustedinwardly of the position disclosediin this figure, which position isdetermined by the stop collar 20. n

Figs. 3 and 5 disclose the-lower edge portion of the breaker plate Il asbeing provided with breaker teeth 25 which cooperate with the picks 26;carried by the periphery of the roll 21. This roll is keyed to atransversely extending shaft 28 which is iournaled in bearings 29mounted in any desired manner on the plates Ill and II of the housing.The roll 21 with the picks 26 cooperate with the adjustable breakerplate Il and its breaker teeth 25 for forming ice crushing mechanism. Byemploying rolls 2l of different diameters and picks 26 of differentsizes, and also by adjusting the breaker plate I4 which 'carries thebreaker teeth 25, the ice lumps or cakes to be crushedby this mechanismmay be wall section ishinged at 3i to the fixed bottom crushed intosmall ice cubes, line ice particles or snow ice.-i

As the crushed ice is formed by the mechanism Just described, it fallsdirectly into the troughshaped bottom wall section 30. This bottom wallsection I3. The remaining side edge of the l bottom Wall is hanged at 32for being detachably clamped to the bottom of the box-shaped portion 22by means of the screw and wing nut fastening mechanism I3. The -sidewall plate Il is provided with a crushed ice discharge opening 34arranged in alinement with and corresponding in shape to the troughportion 30 of the bottom wall of the housing. l

suitably bolted, or otherwise fastened. to the outside of the wall I isan impeller housingji. A bearing le is suitably mounted on the outerwall of the impeller housing 3i. In" alinement with the bearing 3B is asecond bearing I1 which is suitably secured to the outer side of thewall Il. 'Ihese bearings support a transversely extending shaft l whichis of suilicient length t0 project appreciably outwardly of the bearingl1 to provide an end portion 38a to which a prime mover may be drivinglyconnected in any desired' manner.

Within the trough-shaped bottom wall ll. the shaft 3l is provided with aflight i! that forms a screw conveyor for feeding the crushed icedeposited in the trough-shaped bottom Il of the housing to and throughthe opening Il in the housing wall Il. This conveyor fed crushed ice isdelivered to the center of the centrifugal impeller 4l which is suitablykeyed to the shaft 3l. The impeller 40 is formed of end walls Ila and40h with an axial inlet opening c formed in the wall llb. 'Blades dextend radially and are joined to the end walls at their longitudinaledges.'

with the exception of the axial inlet and radial outlet openings.

This design of impeller has been found to be very desirable for handlingice particles as it maintains the ice out of contact with the walls ofthe stationary housing to the greatest extent possible, .therebypreventing formation of ice on the inner surfaces of the housing wallsand the drag of the blades'lld and the ice particles being impelled overthev housing walls which would retard rotation of the impeller and causebreakage of the ice particles.

It will be appreciated that the impeller must ro- The housing 2S isprovided with an outlet 4|.' (see Figs. l and 5). A flexible tube, orthe like,

is intended to be connected to the outlet 4I so that'the cnished icethrown through the outlet of the impeller housing may be controllablydelivered to iced.

The shaft 28 is disclosed in Figs. 2 and 4 as having mounted thereon asprocket 42 over which is trained a sprocket chain 'This chain also istrained over a sprocket M suitably keyed to the shaft 38. It will beappreciated that by. applying power from a single prime mover to the endIla of the shaft 38, the icecru'sher rollv 21, the screw conveyor night39, andthe centrifugal impeller '40 will be directly driven thereby..

A suitable housing Il is connected to the 'aide wall plate Ii of themain housing for and sprayed upon the material to be a main driveshaftfor all theton mechanism employed for driving the shaft 28 from themain shaft 38.

When desired, a shelf as shown best in Figs. 3 and 5, may be employedfor supporting large lumps or cakes of ice'prior to; feeding the sameinto theopen upper end of the main housing where they are operated uponby the picks 2l ofthe crusher roll 21. l

Figs. 6 and 7 disclose a modified form of screw conveyor and centrifugalimpeller. This modification consists of two screw conveyor flights 41which are suitably fastened to a main drive shaft Il which correspondsto the shaft n of the preceding iigures. The impeller unit 49 hassurfaces or blades 5I which are suitably connected to or formed integralwith the flights 41 of the screw conveyor so that continuous surfaceswill connect the conveyor flights and the impeller blades. 'Thismodified form of combined screw conveyor and impeller are housed in thesame members as that disclosed in and described in connection with thepreceding figures. The same reference characters, therefore, will beapplied. It will be un'- derstood that the number of nights 41 carriedby meshes; n may be varied as desired and that the use of two in thesegures is merely illustrative.

It will be appreciated that the single unit ice slinger embodying thisinvention is capable of handling large lumps or cakesof ice for crushingthe same and that'the crushed ice will be uniformly and quicklydelivered from the unit to the point of use where it` may be sprayedupon the material to be iced. The compact arrangement of the variouselements of the unit enables the same to be made portable by mountingupon any form of conveyance and also permits large lumps or cakes of iceto be delivered to the same without being eleva.' to a considerableheight. The compactness oi the' device, ofcourse, will cause it tooccupy a minimum-'amount of space and have a minimum weight.

The use of a mechanical conveyor for feeding the crushed ice formed bythe cooperating picks 28- and breaker teeth 25 quickly and uniformly t'othe impeller mechanism has numerous advantages which will be set forthas follows:

(a)v It permits the use of wide crushing rolls and avoids the necessityof placing the crusher 'aconsiderable distance above the center of the'impeller which would be necessaryl if a chute, or

other form of gravity feed were used for delivering the crushed ice.

(b) -It feeds the .ice to thevcenter of the impeller and thus thebreakage of the ice cubes is less with this amusement than would loccurif -a gravity form of'feed were employed. (c) It eliminates thetendencyof the crushed ice to choke at any point between the crusher and theimpeller and provides a more uniform feed of the crushed ice with theresult that maximum. eiiiciency is obtained. (d) It also enables a*single shaft to be used Ifor the screw conveyor and the impeller and asof the rotating parts oftheentlreunit. f

It is believed .that the inode of operation of the ice slinger unitembodying this invention will be readily understood fromv the precedingdescrip?- tioxr and that no further explanation will be vItzis'to beunderstood thatv the forms of this invention herewith shown 'anddescribed arev to be taken as preferred examples ofthe same, and

n ping the same into said trough, an impeller housangst? `rangement ofparts may1 be resorted to without departing from the spirit of theinvention or the scope of the subjoined claims.v

Having thus described the invention, I claim: l l. In an ice handlingdevice, housing comprising side walls and one end wall iixed rela tiveto each other, a pivoted breaker plate `forming the second end wall, anda trough-shaped loottom wall, a breaker plate adjusting rod projectingthrough the housing, means associated with the xed end Wall foractuating said rod to' adjust and hold the breaker 'plate in differentpositions, 'a crusher roll rotatable in the housing and cooperating withthe breaker plate ior crushing ice and dropping it into the trough,means for pivotally supporting the bottoni Wall to permit it to hedropped to obtain access to the nous ing below the crusher roll, a screwconveyor rotating in the trough for feeding the crushed icelongitudinally` thereof, and means for receiving the crushed ice fromsaid trough and throwing it toward the point oi use.

,2. in an ice handling device, a housi com pulsing side Walls and an endwall uned relative to each other, a breaker plate pivoted at its up peredge forming the second end wall, and a suh= v stantially V-shapedtrough forming the bottom wall, means for pivotally supporting one edgeoi' said trough lneneath the breaker plate, a 'lateral extensioncarri-ed oy the lower portion oi the lined end wall, a breaker plateadjusting rod pro iecting through the housing, means associated,

with the adjusting rod and the lateral extension for actuating said rodto adjust and hold the breaker plate in diierent positions, means associated with the free ee oi the trough and the dii/for crushing ice `anddropping it into the trough,

and a conveyor operating in thetrough for feeding the crushed icelongitudine thereof.

3. In an ice vhandling device, a main housing having a trough shapedbottom portion and a dis-` charge opening at 'one end of the, saidtrough, means in the housing for'crushing ice and droping having atangential outlet and mounted on the housing in communication with thetrough through said discharge opening, a shaft extendl ing through thetrough and impeller housing, 'flights forming a. screw conveyor mountedon the shaftwithin the trough, and an impeller mounted on the shaftwithin the impeller housing, said imponer comprising en d walls, one ofwhich has an axial inlet opening registering with the dis-v chargeopening ofv the main housing, and a plurality of radial blades Joinedtothe end walls at their longitudinal edges.

4. In an ice handling device, a main housing having a. trough shapedbottom portion'` -:md a

discharge opening at one end of thesaidtrough.

means inthe housing for crushing ice and dropping` the same intosaidtrough, an impeller housing having a tangential outlet and mounted onthe housing in communication with the trough through said dischargeopening, a shaft extedj ing through the trough and impeller housing,

nights forming a screw conveyor mounted on the 1 shaft within thetrough, andan impeller mounted on the shaft within the impeller housing,said impeller comprising end walls, one of which has an axial inletopening registering with the discharge opening oi the main housing, and-a plurality of radial blades joined to the end walls at theirlongitudinal edges, said conveyor flights and impeller blades beingconnectedto form continuous crushed ice feeding surfaces.

5. In an ice handling-device, a main housing having a substantiallyll-shaped bottom wall forming a trough with a large top opening, thehousing at one end of the trough having a large discharge opening of thesize and shape o and aligned with said trough, means in the housing forcrushing ice and dropping it into said trough, an impeiler housinghaving a tangentialV outlet and mounted on the housing in communicationwith the trough through said discharge opening,

.a shaft extendingthrough the trough and 'imcharge opening, and animpeller mounted'on thev shaft Within the impeller housing, saidimpeller comprising end walls, oneoi which has an axial inlet openingregistering ,with the discharge opening of the main housing, and aplurality of radial blades joined to the end walls at their longitudinaledges.

6. En an ice handling device, a main housing havinga substantiallyil-shaped bottom-Wall forming a trough with a large top opening, the'housing at one end of the trough having a large discharge opening of"lthe size and shape of and aligned with said trough, means in thehousing `for crushing ice andl dropping it into saidtrough,

an impeller housing having a tangential 'outlet and mounted on thehousing in'communication with the trough through said discharge opening,va shaft extending through the trough and impeller housing, flightsmounted on the shaftwithin thetrough and vforming a screw conveyor ofconsiderably less area than the trough or the discharge opening, and animpeller mounted on the being connected to form continuous crushed icefeeding F l A'I'l-IOIIMIAS J.- DAVIS.

' shaft within the ifnpelier housing, said impeller comprising endwalls/one of which has an axial inlet opening registering with thedischarge open- 55 blades joined to the end wens at their muguudinax

